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The Audi A4 will be offered in a variety of body styles with refreshed styling for 2012.

Autoweek in review: This week's wrap-up

October 27, 2011

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--MotoGP's Marco Simoncelli died on Sunday in a crash on the second lap of the Malaysian Motorcycle Grand Prix, when his helmet came off and he was hit by other riders. Officials canceled the race.

-- The Mazda Takeri concept will replace the Mazda 6 sedan within the next couple of years. The concept will get a formal debut at the Tokyo motor show in late November.

-- Chevrolet will use next week's Las Vegas SEMA show to show off customization options for the new Sonic. The floor will be sprinkled with 20 Sonics, hatchbacks and sedans, in various states of tuning.

Chrysler will take more than 30 customized cars to the show. Among the lineup is the Dodge Challenger SRT8 ACR, inspired by the Viper ACR, as well as the high-performance Ram 392 Quick Silver.

-- It's official: The United States will host Formula One in New Jersey in 2013. Plans for the race, called the Grand Prix of America at Port Imperial, were confirmed on Tuesday. The location is the Port Imperial ferry terminal in New Jersey, just across the Hudson River from Manhattan.

-- Ford and General Motors dropped in the rankings for customer satisfaction in Consumer Reports' annual auto survey, while domestic brands such as Jeep, Lincoln and Chrysler saw improvement in 2011. Japanese brands still won out overall.

-- Audi revealed a mild restyling for the A4 family that will go on sale in Europe in January and in the United States next summer. The lineup includes a sedan, a wagon, a crossover and the high-performance S4. Changes include restyled headlamps and tail lamps, plus higher-quality materials inside.

--The BMW X3 crossover gets its own episode in the Ultimate Factories series that runs on the National Geographic cable TV channel. The production crew spent two weeks at BMW's plant in Spartanburg, S.C., for the episode.

-- A 1958 Ferrari sold for $3.6 million at RM Auctions' annual event in London. Other top lots--including another Ferrari, a Lamborghini and an Aston Martin--failed to sell.

-- Chinese firms Pang Da and Youngman Lotus have agreed to buy Saab for $142 million. Saab owner Swedish Automobile said it has entered into a memorandum of understanding to sell 100 percent of the shares of Saab to the companies.